Rams Lose Cool, Tampa Bay Takes Advantage, 24-14 : Pro football: Buccaneers capitalize on three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties to hand L.A. its fifth loss in a row.

Chuck Knox said he was looking for a spark, but instead of getting an electrifying performance from quarterback Chris Chandler, the Rams’ stoic head coach watched in disbelief as his taunting, late-hitting linebacking corps ignited the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

On three of the four plays following offsetting penalties and a warning from game officials to stop misbehaving, Ram linebackers were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. The penalty binge allowed the Buccaneers to move into position to score and take a 10-point halftime lead on their way to a 24-14 victory Sunday in Tampa Stadium before 34,150.

“I don’t know where their heads were at,” Tampa Bay linebacker Hardy Nickerson said. “But they came in here jawing at us, calling us names. That only made us play harder and shove their noses in it.”

The Buccaneers, who led, 17-14, after blocking Tony Zendejas’ 48-yard field-goal attempt with 1:51 to play, opted to go deep for a 44-yard touchdown pass from Craig Erickson to Charles Wilson 17 seconds later rather than run the clock out.

Tampa Bay (5-9) ran its winning streak to three, the first time since 1982 that the Buccaneers have won three games in a row and the first time since 1980 that they have defeated a team from California.

“This is the lowest point in a lot of our careers, especially mine,” said Ram linebacker Shane Conlan.

The Rams (4-10), losers of five in a row, once again failed to run effectively and allowed Wilson, who had been buried three-deep on the Buccaneers’ depth chart, to catch four passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns.

“You look at Tampa Bay and it’s like looking at the Los Angeles Clippers in basketball,” said Ram defensive end Fred Stokes. “I heard some guys saying, ‘If they are that bad, what does that make us?’ ”

Although inept for much of the first half, the Rams remained within a field goal but then lost their cool.

Ram linebacker Joe Kelly tackled running back Errict Rhett after a two-yard gain, then let him know it. An agitated Rhett took exception and, while tempers flared, the two-minute warning sent both teams toward their own benches.

Ram cornerback Todd Lyght, however, strolled over to the Buccaneers’ sideline and attempted to eavesdrop on the Tampa Bay huddle. Rookie quarterback Trent Dilfer was the first to spot Lyght and, after bringing it to Coach Sam Wyche’s attention, Nickerson attempted to remove Lyght from the area.

“I was hanging out,” Lyght said. “That field is for everybody. I can do whatever I want.

“Did I ignite all this? No, I think Sam Wyche ignited it when he tried to put his hands on me. I was too quick for him, though, so he didn’t touch me, but Nickerson was there. I think he was frustrated from just getting beat for a touchdown by Troy Drayton.”

While folks at home were treated to commercials, the Rams and Buccaneer began to spar. The officials called offsetting penalties, and after announcing to the crowd that both teams had been warned about such future extracurricular activity, play resumed.

On the next play--on second and eight from his 37-yard line--Erickson badly overthrew wide receiver Lawrence Dawsey down the left sideline. On the right side of the field, meanwhile, Conlan had laid out Buccaneer tight end Tyji Armstrong with a head-high wallop, drawing a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness.

“He came and cut my knee in the first quarter and I said, ‘I’ll get you,’ ” Conlan said. “So I hit him--right in the head, right in the face. I’ve been doing this for eight years and I never had anybody do that to me. I’m not a dirty player, but. . . .

“He was talking about what a man he is, but he’s a (terrible) player. He’s nothing, but we got to be smarter than that. I shouldn’t have done it because it cost our team. It was stupid, but it still felt good.”

On the next play Rhett ran for 14 yards, and 15 more yards were tacked on after an official caught Ram linebacker Roman Phifer taunting running back Anthony McDowell.

“The taunting penalties kept their drive alive and allowed them to score,” Knox said. “I told the players, ‘Listen, enough is enough.’ That’s not our kind of football.”

The Rams, however, continued to get in trouble. Phifer threw Rhett for a three-yard loss, then tackled running back Vince Workman, who had caught a seven-yard pass from Erickson. After sliding to the ground, however, Workman appeared to juggle the ball while trying to regain his feet. Phifer leaned on Workman in an effort to keep him from advancing, and was penalized half the distance to the goal line--seven yards--for unnecessary roughness.

“I thought that was a bad call,” Phifer said. “The guy was trying to get up, and this is football and it’s a physical game.”

Two plays later, Rhett ran free for eight yards and a touchdown, and with 50 seconds remaining in the half, the Buccaneers led, 17-7.

“They were all in my face talking,” said Rhett, who ran 31 times for 119 yards on his 24th birthday. “If I even tried to breathe they were all over me.”

While Rhett had his way with the Ram defense, running back Jerome Bettis continued to go nowhere. Bettis ran 13 times for 23 yards against the 27th-ranked defense against the run, and has averaged 2.4 yards a carry in his last five games.

The Ram passing game, which was supposed to receive a boost after the benching of Chris Miller, was also ineffective. Chandler, who had been 0-6 as a starter with Tampa Bay previously, missed a number of wide-open receivers before finding Drayton for 22 yards and a touchdown in the second quarter. A 12-yard touchdown pass to Jessie Hester in the fourth quarter brought the Rams within a field goal, but another break in discipline damaged their cause.

After moving within Zendejas’ field-goal range at the Tampa Bay 25, Chandler’s first-down pass to Todd Kinchen at the 19 was wiped out by a holding call on guard Leo Goeas.

“A weak call,” Goeas said. “No. 71 (Santana Dotson) had cried to the ref about something and on the very next play they called the penalty. It will show on film that it was a very weak call.”

The penalty pushed the Rams to the Tampa Bay 35, but instead of going downfield for substantial yardage on third and 16, Chandler, as he has done several times this season, went short for five yards to Kinchen. That left 48 yards for Zendejas to negotiate.

“It was at the breaking point for Zendejas with the wet field and the breeze that was there,” said Wayne Sevier, special teams coach.

Tackle Charles McRae blocked Zendejas’ kick--the first kick blocked by a Buccaneer since Dec. 6, 1992, when McRae blocked another Zendejas attempt.

The Buccaneers went on to score another touchdown, and with two games to play, they still can avoid losing a 10th game for the 12th consecutive season.

“We just lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,” said Ram cornerback Darryl Henley. “This is terrible. Just terrible.”